


All About Chemistry

by PandorableDork



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-10 01:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7825603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandorableDork/pseuds/PandorableDork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the trials and tribulations of SBURB, Eridan Ampora is alive, somehow. Ending up in a world he doesn't recognize, via methods he doesn't understand, with a girl he practically doesn't know. Right now he just wants to figure things out, settle down, and maybe, learn more about Aradia Megido than he could ever imagine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Surprise

Dazed and confused, Eridan grumbled to himself as he opened his eyes, not exactly sure what the fuck just happened. From his point of view, he might as well have had the worst hangover of his life, because the latest thing in his memory was a massive, horrible blur of memories. One moment he was upon the meteor, with the rev of a chainsaw dangerously close. In his mind, the next few seconds he ended up here, as if instead of a continuous flow of memories it was only snapshots of his life.

Sweet summer air filled his nose, and the breeze made his fins twitch curiously as he was too distracted to even ponder where he was. Sitting upright and rubbing his eyes, he could see down from his unknown vantage point, the hill he found himself atop of giving a gorgeous view of a land he had never seen before. 

Below, bustling like ants was the strangest sort of cityscape he had ever seen. For a while, he just sat, listening to only the sounds of this bizarre, yet peaceful place. Carapace citizens ran back and forth between strange tin houses, alongside the occasional troll or human who stood out like a sore thumb. His small trance was broken when he heard the crunch of a foot upon a branch, grabbing his attention immediately. 

He turned his head a bit nervously and looked up. Blushing a little bit, the girl in red robes behind him raised a hand, waving as she approached. It took him a second to recognize her, he had only seen her in robot form before, and even then they didn't so much as talk face to face. Still, he was happy to see anyone right now, even the rustblood.

It was much more familiar to see Aradia dead than alive, but right now he was just glad to see someone he knew here. With a spring in her step, she made her way up to the hill with the seadweller, almost as if she were here to deliver something wonderful to the confused troll.

Her enthusiasm was only adding to his confusion. Shakily he stood, trying to rub the uncertainty out of his eyes. Looking over at his companion he raised an eyebrow, hoping that maybe she had some idea of the situation.

"Ara? ...Christ wwhat the fuck are wwe doin' out here? Wwhere is evveryone? Wwhere are wwe?" The slew of questions came out as a bit of a grumble, but he didn't care about first impressions right now, he just wanted answers. He still wasn't even sure if this wasn't some strange, vivid dream he had fallen into.

Aradia didn't exactly have the reputation of being very, normal- being a ghost, or stuck in a robot for a prolonged period of time would do that you he figured, let alone both- , but right now he was hoping she would forgo any cryptic talk and give him some sort of straight answer.

"Well I don't know the particular spot very well, but welcome to Earth!" Aradia extended her arms out, as if to gesture to the planet itself in its entirety. Behind her, leaves blew in the wind, and the chirps of birds could be heard. It may have been confusing to the new arrival, but at least it was comforting.

It was still, regardless of the amount of comforting background noise, enough to make him feel a bit unsteady. He was alive, no ifs and or buts about it even if he may have deserved anyways. Alive. Just thinking the word made his heart race a bit. He opened his mouth to speak, but he just stood there a few moments, unsure of what to say. 

Turning, Aradia looked down at Can-Town. Speaking carefully, she tried to keep the pleasant tone in her voice. "I would have shown you around the others and all that, bring you straight to the celebrations and all that but..." He could tell where this was going immediately, sighing as she bit her lip, trying not to end up with her foot in her mouth. 

The elephant in the room wasn't new, it followed him where ever he went ever since the, incident, on the meteor. Even when he was alone. With a simple nod he could acknowledge it without dredging up more painful memories than he had to. "I figured maybe the best way to 'introduce' you to this new place would be something nice and relaxing, and we could worry about the others later?" He didn't like the fact that he had to 'worry' about the others at all. While part of him wished that he could just assimilate back into his old group of friends like nothing, even if apologies were made it would take time to heal these wounds.

Shaking his head a little bit, he didn't want to get lost in thought about this subject again, at least not right now. "Look, considerin' my fuckin' situation, I don't givve a damn about wwhatevver pomp and circumstance they'vve got goin' on dowwn there." Standing up straight, he felt his scarf flutter a bit in the breeze, looking at Aradia as he talked. "First of all, howw am I still alivve, and howw did I get here? I mean I ain't gonna fuckin' complain about the method, if it means I get to enjoy the fruits of our long, arduous labor." 

This made the girl in her strange, almost pajama like garb take a few steps forward to stand directly in front of the seadweller. "To be honest, I don't think you would understand the sort of temporal hoops I had to jump through to pull you here, but to make it simple, think of it like, being bumped through time! There was a way to just perfectly take you right before your seemingly intended death and just sort of push you further ahead in the timeline. It was a strange thing that quite frankly even I don't fully understand but I think its some sort of temporal glitch caused by John and his strange past-altering spree."

"So, technically I didn't go through the bubbles, or anything?" Even though she made it clear, he wouldn't understand the mechanics of the situation, he at the very least hoped he could ascertain some details. "There just, there's a huge gap in my memory, fuckin' swweeps it feels like, I mean, I knoww I wwas there for some thin's but just..." Eridan drifted off, not really sure what to say.

Aradia was silent at first, before putting a hand upon his shoulder. "It would take sweeps to explain the 'how' of the situation Eridan, I just had to make sure you were always in the right place at the right time, and it worked in the end!" She gave him a wild smile with her half-hearted explanation, but he could tell that he didn't have the time, nor the understanding to get caught up in a conversation about the technicalities of how he came here.

The sea dweller stood in silence for a moment, before realizing that other than standing out here in the great outdoors, he didn't have anywhere to go. No hive, no familiar pile of horns, not even a room to himself on the meteor anymore. "Listen Ara, right noww I just wwant to get settled dowwn, alright? Maybe just clear my head and take a wwalk, or fuck I don't knoww, see wwhat passes for a hivve around here?" 

Happily, she nodded, turning the both of them and gesturing to the abandoned cityscape off in the other direction of Can-Town from where they were standing. "Me and Jade did a bit of work to make sure that its all safe, and that nothing too... Morbid, was left behind. She made it seem so easy to clean it all up just like that after I brought the buildings back to their glory days!"

Eridan didn't know the history of this planet, but its architecture caught his eye immediately. While it was nowhere near as chaotic as on Alternia, the buildings were certainly unique. Just the sight made him wonder about how old these humans were when they built their own dwellings. Staring at the distinctive skyline left by the structures, he eyed each one over, trying to get a peek at what human life must have been like in a place as seemingly densely populated as this. "So, at the vvery least I don't havve to wworry about one of these thin's comin' dowwn on my head anytime soon? At least that's one fuckin' thin' I don't havve to wwory about."

Aradia couldn't help but giggle as they started down the hill and towards a street leading into the city. Along the way she pointed out certain buildings, trying to pique some sort of interest in the area to the seadweller. "Some of these used to be for entire businesses, or huge stores, some were even fancy restaurants! Digging through these buildings is not like the archaeology I did back home, but my little place has all sorts of trinkets and interesting things I've found looking about!" She said, as she stopped by one of the many, many abandoned vehicles on the road, opening the door and reaching in to grab a pair of sunglasses off the dashboard, as if to prove her point.

Rolling his eyes a bit as Aradia put on the glasses and shut the door daintily, as to avoid any sort of damage to the object of her interest. They wandered to the sidewalk, it was clean and silent here, almost like the set of a movie. Wondering if all time players had same taste in eyewear, he shook the idea out of his head as he looked around a bit more. "Huh, Vvri wwould be all ovver this. I mean it ain't as excitin' as her kind of explorin' and advventurin', but it's as good as it gets noww I'd assume. Hell I'd imagine that I could set a pretty good flarp campaign here."

Giggling, the girl gestured to the various storefronts they passed, "Oh there may not be enemies to fight on the high seas, and brutal rivalries like the good ole days of flarping, but here, let me just show you how great it is here!" Taking the other troll by the wrist, they made their way further into the city. 

Something had been bothering him this whole time, more so than how he got here. Being dragged along, he couldn't help but bring it up as they walked. "Ara, wwhy the fuck are you draggin' me around like this? Hell, wwhy the fuck did you bring me back of all people, its not like wwe wwere buddy buddy or anythin' like that. Granted I knoww jack shit about the intricate nature of time travel, but I hardly think I'm wworth the effort."

His words made her stop in her tracks, as she turned to face Eridan, looking up at him silently for a few moments, pausing to gather her thoughts. "Well... Your particular situation was the only one where I could really bring you here. I guess maybe I look at it differently after the game gave me a second chance at life. Even considering everything that's happened, I think I'd be a hypocrite to just pass on by a chance to save you." 

At first, he didn't even know what to say to that, but just gave a little nod, turning and facing the store they were in front of. "I just, fuckin' damnit..." With a sigh, he rubbed the back of his head, not able to even get his thoughts across. "Listen, I ain't one to be fuckin' sappy and I don't wwanna make a big deal of it, but, thanks, alright?" 

The girl just silently nodded as Eridan did earlier, as she perked up a bit, realizing where they were. "Hey, I won't make a big deal out of it if you don't, it's fine." Smirking at the sea dweller, she pointed to the door of the abandoned establishment... A card and magic store, this was the sort of horse shit that humans peddled to one another for joy and amusement?

"...Ara did you take this fuckin' path dowwn here just to get me all mad or somethin', cause its kinda wworkin." Part of him wanted to go inside to check it out, but even though the odds were slim, he would rather die than be caught amusing such ridiculous ideas, what if the Lalonde human were to show up somehow? He'd never hear the end of it.

"Oh come on you aren't at least a little bit interested? Also maybe a little bit, but I figured that if anything could show you how much interesting stuff there is out here, maybe this would!" The girl smiled as she stared at gags and shitty beginners card trick sets in the windowsill. This wasn't even the real fake magic he was used to dealing with, but a double fake, a jape of a jape, the most shameful of all things even associated with the word.

"Fine, fine you got me there, if they havve stuff this fuckin' disgraceful on open display I'm sure I can find wwhatevver I wwant to fuckin' indulge in around here..." After speaking, he looked up and down the street, taking in the various shops, residences, and other points of interest. Aradia certainly had a point, he was certain that around here he could find anything he needed or wanted, and then some.

For now though, what he needed more than anything was to just relax, settle down, maybe even come up with some sort of plan, or better yet, a scheme. He was sure in this post victory world, he could find some way to elevate him to the level of respect he must certainly deserve.

"So, are all of these dwwellin's like Davve's, small and shitty? Wwhere do the human royals livve, I don't think wwe're anywwhere near a coast but there's gotta be somethin' pretty fuckin' grand around here" Even though he was speaking at his usual volume, the sheer emptiness made his words echo throughout the block as he turned his head, scouting out a potential hive, or at least what would have to make do in lieu of one. He demanded nothing less than excellence, the game was over and Alternia was gone but he wasn't about to stoop to a lowblooded standard of living.

A bit confused, she stared at him for a moment, before trying to give her best attempt at an answer. "Well, it may be a bit of a pain to get to one without having a working elevator... Or having wings, but typically the top floor of these buildings, the penthouse, is the largest and the nicest kind of place you'll find around here!"

"An elevator? Is that like a transportalizer but straight up? Fuckin', wwhatevver, I'll take some exercise if it at least means gettin' the nicest place around here." As he spoke he eyed up the various buildings, as if just by looking at the outside of them he could tell which one he wanted to take up residency in the most.

Stopping in place, Aradia put a hand on Eridan's shoulder and turned the both of them around on the corner of the intersection they found themselves at. At the end of the road was the tallest building the sea dweller had ever seen, larger even than the epically sized cathedrals upon his planet in SGRUB. Letting out a whistle, Eridan stared up at the tower. With one of her stupidly cheery grins Aradia couldn't help but taunt her companion. "Alright then, you want the best of the best? You're gonna get some great cardio from all those stairs!"


	2. Act Naturally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Settling down a bit, Eridan tries to get used to the world post-SGRUB. With a rude interruption or two, and the best damn view he's ever seen. He reflects on his first day on post-victory Earth, and what potentially lies ahead in his future.

The seadweller stopped counting flights of stairs after 50 or so, and he only started regretting trying to run up them at around 40. Catching his breath as he stopped, Eridan looked up at the sign. 74 of 78 floors, god dammit legs, he just needed them to hold out for a bit longer and he would be there.

Eridan, was by no means out of shape. Living on the ocean lead to sweeps of swimming, and the game had pushed him even harder physically. Today was a bit of an exception, at least that's how he felt right about now. After his strange awakening on the hill he felt drained physically, and to an extent mentally, and that was _before_ climbing over 70 god damn flights of stairs. Right now he just wanted to get inside, lay down, and drift into unconsciousness; willingly this time. Every step was another struggle as he was starting to regret turning down the offer Aradia gave him shortly before letting him take the stairs. Reflecting on it, a flight to the top would have been over much, much earlier, and would have gone without the feeling of his legs wishing to collapse under him. Still, the idea of flying that high, with the only restraint being a rustblood's arms gave him vertigo just thinking about it. He would rather not end his first day on Earth laying dead on the pavement.

In his mind he kept a conversation going as he struggled his way up the last few flights. He used this distraction to fight every urge to just lay down and take a nap, yelling himself to 'man the fuck up' whenever doubt set in. Part of him wish he took Aradia's advice as they parted ways, just settle for something on the first few floors. He even stopped and took a look, they were nice enough places to live, hell they were better than most hives on Alternia. Instead, no no no, he just had to have the best damn view and the biggest hive he could find. With a grumble, he rounded the bend of another flight, and as he looked up at the sign again, apparently his inner bitching had finally paid off. 

He found himself at floor 78, about time too, the last stretch took longer than it had any right to. Swinging the door open into the lobby of the penthouse's entrance, he spotted the damn elevator doors again, still shut and refusing to open for him as they did on the ground floor. Passing the piece of shit machinery that he now hated enough to enter a kismesis with, he reached the grand double doors to the penthouse proper, and he could feel his heartbeat racing. Slowly, his grey hand reached towards the knob, reaching out slowly at first... Until he remember how fantastically that worked for their precious leader last time he tried to build the anticipation, and in one fell swoop he put his hand on the knob and twisted.

At the very least, he tried to, the knob stuck and he tried again, and again. It was locked. Eridan had seen friends die, he had made terrible, horrible decisions he regretted with every fiber of his being, he had his heart ripped out and stomped on. Yet, this, this was the worst moment of his life. 

It was incredibly tempting to just drop to the floor and cry himself into a nap, try not to think about the fact that he would have to descend those hellish stairs when he woke up, and worse yet, having to admit to Aradia what had happened the next time she came to check up on him. Thankfully his plans were cut short, as the knob twisted seemingly on its own, as the same troll in the red god tier robes stood on the other side of the door.

"Oh how stupid of me, forgot you were going to need to be let in! Here, I dug around the place and found a spare key for you." Tossing the ornately decorated key at the seadweller, his shock was strong enough that instead of catching it, he just let the piece of metal bounce off of his face and hit the floor. Fuck what she had done for him before. Fuck the fact that she was just a rustblood. Hell, even forget the fact that Aradia Megido could be one of the weirdest motherfuckers he had ever met. In one fell swoop she had just secured her role as Eridan's guardian angel. Though, perhaps just guardian would fair better as a title for her... Eridan didn't exactly having the best of times with angels in his past.

Scrambling to seem like less of an idiot, he picked they key up, his face bright purple as he tried to keep his composure. "Heh, thanks, I wwas just 'bout ready to kick the door dowwn, but you savved me the cleanup." He said, lying so hard he was genuinely worried if his pants were about to combust. "Just stoppin' by wwith the key or got anythin' else to tell me?"

"Oh, well actually just a bit! I uh, borrowed a power source from Rose, she alchemized a whole bunch for Can-Town and even extras! Plug it in an outlet and it'll power the whole building, the things are crazy!" Half tempted to cut her off at the mention of the whole building, he waited until the end of the sentence to at least ask the question that almost automatically slipped out his mouth.

"...Evven the elevvator?" Never had he wanted to hear a girl say yes to him more, including his past attempts at romance. When Aradia gave him a nod, it took every bit of self control in his body not to break down and hug her. The sigh of relief he gave off was enough to make him break into a bit of a coughing fit. Still being quite out of breath from climbing 78 flights of stairs certainly wasn't helping him with that right now.

She giggled at the last part, smiling at Eridan. “I was half tempted to help you while I was watching you deal with those stairs, but I figured if you wanted this so badly, you'd have to earn it!” His heart sank as she spoke, as he gulped, the obvious question coming to mind.

“You uh, didn't see the bit wwith the doorknob did you Ara? ...Please tell me you didn't.” If he had made any sort of impression on her that was better than terrible today, Eridan had a bad feeling this had a real chance of undoing any of it.

“Well, just this once I'll say I didn't and we can pretend it didn't happen!” Giving him a wink with a giggle, it wasn't as bad as Eridan expected, but he still wished to stick his head in a blender due to the sheer embarrassment of the situation “If you don't hold it against me that I sorta just watched you blunder up the stairs like a doofus instead of helping, I'll pretend I didn't see it in the first place.”

He didn't say anything, just shaking his head a bit as he decided that maybe a subject change was in order. “Wwell fuckin' regardless, I'm exhausted. Hopefully this god damn place is wworth the effor-” Cutting himself off as he stepped inside, the seadweller went silent. This wasn't an apartment as much as it was a fucking entire house atop this skyscraper.

Just in the room he stood, a spiral staircase lead up to a second floor, and the room was filled with a couch sitting opposite the largest television he had ever seen, with various other comfortable chairs on either side. The walls were practically all glass windows, each with the most beautiful view he had ever seen. The living room opened up to a patio of sorts with a bar, and a swimming pool just past the fine wooden deck. “Swweet mother of god, yeah, I'd say this wwas fuckin' wworth it.” Letting out a long whistle, he walked around his new place, grinning to himself.

“Well, glad you seem happy with this place, I actually showed up here a bit earlier, made sure everything was a-okay! Even alchemized some stuff to make life out here a bit easier on you, but I'm sure you'll deal with that later.” Standing in the door, she smiled as she was about to leave, saying one more thing. “Oh, and if you just need me, contact me via Trollian, your old computer glasses are upstairs on the bed, made sure to bring em back in one piece for you!” And with that, the door was shut, and Aradia had gone off to do god knows what now. He was a little concerned with the amount of effort she put in, almost feeling bad about not being able to pay her back for it somehow. Before he could do that however, he was left wondering where she could find the time to do that while surveying the practical tragedy that was Eridan on his miserable ascent. Oh right, time travel, as usual with the rustblood.

Deciding that if there was ever a time he deserved to relax, it was now, the seadweller kicked his shoes off. Without even bothering to go upstairs he threw himself onto the luxuriously soft couch and feeling as if he was going to sink right into the cushions, he closed his eyes and let out a long, soft sigh. Aradia's generosity and her overwhelming optimism were uplifting after the dreary experience he had with the game, but they wore him down in the already drained state he found himself in today. In a few short hours he spent more time talking with her than he did in the entirety of their experiences throughout SBURB. It wasn't as if he disliked her for a particular reason, she just seemed, off.

That was probably Equius's fault more than anyone's really. Being put into a robot programmed to love its creator would make anyone behave erratically, and being half troll-ghost, half frog before that probably wasn't helping her odds. Still, even though she was strange, he liked her company. Whether or not it was genuine or just something to get him settled in, get him off of her hands, he would have to figure out in time...

Soon Eridan found himself lost in his own thoughts, and with his eyes shut, it wasn't very long before he was passed out, sleeping like a wriggler in the company of its mother grub.

Unfortunately he wasn't out very long before quite suddenly, he awoke to a loud bang, and the sound of glass shattering. Sitting upright immediately, Eridan's eyes darted about the room, until he saw the window pane, completely shattered. Bits of glass littered the floor, and the cause didn't seem to be obvious. Standing up, the groggy troll made his way over to the scene of the crime, when before he could get there, another bang, and another shatter rang through the penthouse. Jumping back, he knew whatever this was wasn't some weird mistake, but he had no idea what it could be.

He got as close to the broken window frames as he could stand without getting dizzy, and raising his hand to his forehead to keep the sun out of his eyes, he looked down, and saw what was smashing his windows. He recognized the girl immediately. Eridan looked down from his window, to see her lying prone with a rifle. Taking aim from atop the building on the other side of the street, the choice of weapon gave her away immediately. _Harley_. Waving his hands over his head to get her attention, and to stop the god awful shooting, he saw the girl stand, and while he couldn't see her face too well from this far away, he sure as shit could tell she didn't look happy.

Eridan just about jumped out the window when the green flash appeared beside him, and the girl teleported her way directly into his penthouse, appearing with her finger already accusingly point straight at him. “What the hell are you doing here! I've got like thirty dumb fucking questions now, but start explaining why you're squatting in this city like a creep!” Immediately he was not a fan of Jade's tone, hell, she was the one vandalizing his hive. Although part of him wanted to shout back, to fight with the girl, considering the fact that right now she was armed, and already not in the best of moods, he figured pushing it could potentially end very very badly.

“Fuckin' hell Harley, first of all, I ain't squattin', I'm livvin' here, got powwer and evverythin. Secondly, if you wwanna knoww the particulars to wwhy and howw the fuck I got here, you'd be better off askin' Ara. Quite frankly I still ain't sure of the answwers to that one.” As he spoke, even though he was trying his best to avoid being confrontational, there was no denying his scowl was leaving any sort of positive impression on the human. 

Slinging her rifle over her back, the girl took a look around, and seeing that there weren't any trashcan fires, or whatever she expected Eridan to have done to the place, she let out a sigh. “God, I thought I was done dealing with your creepy ass! I can't even get target practice in now without something going wrong.” He had a feeling if they were on Trollian right now, she would have followed that up with one of her common smiley faces- or rather a frowning one in this case.

He stopped for a moment, wondering what the hell she could have meant by the last part, before continuing on with the argument. “Wwell maybe you coulda fuckin' had thin's go better if you wweren't shootin' wwindowws out. Speakin' of wwhich, I don't think you could fix that, could you?” Eridan tapped his foot, waiting for her, before Jade sighed and with a snap, the bits of glass around the room seemed to come together on their own, taking up the space they former occupied. “Better. Noww, can I at least make a case for myself before wwe just start bitchin' and moanin' at each other.”

“You don't seem like the kind of guy to get any girl moaning, but sure, the floor is open.” He just shook his head at that response, crossing his arms as he gathered his thoughts a bit.

“Alright, first of all, that wwas a bit fuckin' uncalled for. Secondly, I ain't lookin' to cause trouble, wwhy the fuck you think I'm 'squatin' out here. Ara thinks I should givve it time before evven thinkin' about comin' to reconnect wwith the rest of you...” He trailed off, trying not to think about his not-so-hot relations with the others at a time like this. “I ain't tryin to stir shit up. Hell after seein howw much of a fuckin trainwwreck Cro wwas, I'vve evven committed to tone the obnoxious flirtin' back at least three or four notches if that's wwhat you're so concerned about.”

Jade stood there for a moment, one of her ears twitching in thought as she let out a defeated sounding sigh. “Fine, fine! You've been a bit of a dickbag to me in the past, but considering the fact you haven't made an effort to bother any of us on your own, I'm willing to at least not completely doubt what you're saying. ...Even if part of me is not at all sold on that”

“Alright wwell, that's a start. Noww howw about fuckin' promising' not to use this buildin' as fuckin' target practice, if that ain't too much to ask for?” He asked harshly, more than a little bit crabby to have been woken up from the rest he needed right about now. “I ain't here to fuckin bother you anywways Harley, god damn. Just gonna judge me by the fuckin' snippet of my life you'vve wwitnessed?”

“That and the snippets I've heard from others, and the way you were in the dream bubbles!And even with that oh so very narrow look into your life, you still seemed like a prick the whole time through!” Jade said, sighing and putting a hand to her face, more than a little fed up of this already. “Look I'll get out of your face, but don't try and play things up like you're a good guy just because you haven't been an asshole to anyone yet. I'll be keeping in touch with Aradia, if I even hear about you trying something funny, I will be back here before you can even say 'wwhat the fuck'. ” Before Eridan could even give her a piece of mind about her terrible, borderline offensive impression of himself, she was gone in a flash of green.

Right now, even though Eridan wished he could just go back to bed, he knew that being woken up the way he did didn't exactly lend itself well to falling back asleep. Walking through the room, he stood in the hallway of the second floor. The sun was low in the sky, and as he descended the spiral staircase into the main living room, the view was quite beautiful. If he couldn't get some rest, he would at least try to enjoy the view that this opportunity was offering.

Eridan wasn't one to drink normally, but as he made his way outside, he passed a comfy looking bar meant for entertaining guests. The bottles on the wall were of a small selection, appearing not to have been restocked anytime recently. Only two weren't empty, the larger of the two was clear, with flecks of what appeared to be gold floating around in it, the other was a rich brown and one he recognized immediately. It was something he had talked about for sweeps flarping, but in all honestly had never tried. Walking behind the counter, he grabbed the bottle of rum, which was surprisingly cool. Reaching over and touching the shelf out of curiosity, it seemed to be some sort of cooling device. The lengths to which humans were willing to go to for luxury pleasantly surprised Eridan, he could get used to this for sure. 

Pouring himself a glass, he took his shirt and pants off, folding them neatly and putting them on the counter as he took the beverage out onto the balcony. Gently climbing into the pool overlooking the city, he let out a relaxed sigh as he took his first, entirely too large sip. Almost immediately he coughed hard, his throat burning with the taste of alcohol and heavy spice. If there was any hint of being groggy left in his system, it was wiped clear as the burn hit him. Still, if this is what Dualscar favored for a celebratory drink, he could understand why.

Glass in hand, Eridan Ampora let out a content sigh as he watched the ball of fire hanging in the sky slowly descend towards the horizon, taking another sip of his drink as a voice right beside his head spoke softly, “Wow, it's so gorgeous...” Letting out a scream that was entirely uncharacteristic of his usual voice he threw the drink, watching it sail over the side of the building before he turned to see Aradia, sitting at the edge of the pool besides him.

“Okay, fuckin' god damn Ara don't fuckin' do that to me! Wwhere the fuck did you evven come from?” He said, scooting closer to the edge of the pool, trying not to let her see him in just his boxers in the pool. Eridan's face was a dark shade of purple as he frowned, realizing what he had just done with his drink. “...Aaaand there goes a samplin' of the finest bevverage I'vve evver had. Rum Ara, the fine shit, wwhat Dualscar himself drank.” Even though his flarp days were behind him, there was still a fine bit of pride in his voice when he said the venerable name.

Rolling her eyes with an almost too cheery smile, she kicked her shoes off and rolled up her leggings, dipping her feet into the pool. “Aw relax, your first day is coming to an end and after watching that little, uh, interaction you had with Jade, I figured I'd make sure everything went well!” 

“It'd be goin' a lot better if I still had my dr-” He stopped mid-word, looking down to his hand to see the glass back in his grasp, as if it never was thrown. “...Alright I'll stop bitchin' about that noww.” Aradia giggled at his reaction, and thinking about it, Eridan raised an eyebrow at her reaction, a little bit confused. “...Alright Ara look, I knoww you're tryin' to be nice and all that, but god damn I'm almost nervvous about this. You sure there ain't ulterior motivves here, some sort of trick or somethin'? Shit, I'm grateful enough you didn't leavve me for dead, but wwhen you wwere explainin' that shit yesterday its not like you havve to hang around me noww that it's all said and done.”

Her smile turned to a frown as he said this and she looked down at the other troll, slightly concerned. “No! I just, I mean we never got to know each other too well back on Alternia. I only really knew you, and your uh, reputation second hand. So I don't just see you as a tool right away, no offense. I know you did, well, some not so great things, I figured maybe you deserve a chance to try and make at least one friend without any sort of bias against you going into it...”

“Alright, alright, sorry for uh, bein' a bit blunt about it, just not used to hearin' somethin' that nice.” Eridan left the words 'from a rustblood', unsaid, even though he couldn't help but think it automatically. “Oh, and don't wworry, no fuckin' offense taken, I'vve heard much wworse.” He sat there for a moment, before turning and pointing inside. “If you wwant grab a drink or somethin', I couldn't sleep so, I figured I'd just stay out and relax a bit. If you wwant to stay, make yourself right at fuckin' home.” If she was willing to drop his not so minor transgressions in the past, Eridan figured it was only fair to ignore the fact that the rustblood was intruding on his privacy, and his property... At least this one time. 

Looking out at the horizon once again, he quickly realized a fault he had in what he said, and decided to at least make it clear he wasn't asking Aradia to strip down to her underwear, like had done. “I mean, I guess you can't swwim unless you havve a suit or someth-” He was cut off once again as she hopped in beside him, in what appeared to be a tailor made one piece swimsuit. “Wwell if you're gonna keep doin' that at least let me finish my fuckin' sentences before provvin' me wwrong.”

Ignoring him, she happily began swimming slow, relaxing laps in the pool. Her form was improper, and if he tried he could probably do at least twice her speed if not triplicate, but that didn't seem to bother her. With one of her concerning infectious smiles upon her face, she practically wasn't even swimming anymore, just kicking off from one side of the pool and floating to the other end. “I just wanted to see what your view of the sunset was from up here, anything past that is just some accidental hanging out.” While Eridan failed to see how two people could accidentally hang out, he didn't question her on it, just leaning his head against the edge of the pool as he couldn't help but smile as the girl continued to swim happily past him.

“Wwell if you wwant, considerin' you'vve provved you can get in wwithout me lettin' you in, you're free to use the pool. Just, next time fuckin' at least don't come bargin' on in wwhen I'm just in fuckin' boxers.” Swirling the dark amber liquid around in his glass, he couldn't help but reflect back on what might have been the best day he's had in many a sweep, even including the little, altercation, with Jade. He closed his eyes with a sigh, a smirk creeping across his face. “...Howw is it down in uh, Can-Town? I knoww I just got here and you wwant me to stay awway for noww, but, I'm just curious.”

Stopping at the conclusion of her current lap, Aradia leaned against the wall of the pool, thinking it over as Eridan hit her with the question. “Well, it really depends! A lot of people are just relaxing after how stressful things were in the last stretch, but there certainly has been a fair bit of celebration too! And now that the game is over, everyone's going back to the sort of stuff they loved to do before mostly. Kanaya's been going through requests from everyone like crazy, I even had this made up, knowing I would need it later.” Sticking her tongue out, she couldn't help but tease him a little bit. “She seems to be enjoying it, last I was in there she was even talking with Rose about opening up some sort of boutique!” Tapping her chin, she thought a bit more, trying to pick out the best examples she could, knowing that he didn't have the time to be drowned out with every piece of news, gossip, and the details of everyone's social lives. “It's just, so much more relaxed than it ever was on the meteor, or in the bubbles. I've seen some of the humans playing their strange Earth games together, I've even had a bit of fun trying out soccer with the one called Jake! And we all keep bumping into one another, seeing each other on dates, or just on walks, or even sometimes in the city, looking around for cool stuff to take back home!”

Just talking about the subject seemed to make Aradia happier, but hearing about all of it, made Eridan's smile droop a little bit. He loved what he had now, it was leaps and bounds above what he deserved after the game had chewed him up (and somehow spit him back out). Yet, he wished to be a part of that, to be visiting the city with friends instead of living in it alone. Trying not to let his appearance of happiness fade, trying not to make Aradia concerned. “Eh sound a bit, fuckin' uh, cheesy Ara. I mean sure as shit wwe deservve it but I don't knoww if I'd be able to keep from losin' my damn lunch ovver howw cheesy it all sounds.” With a smirk, he hoped it came off as teasing, rather than the bitter bit of venting it really was. 

“Well! I'm sure if we take things nice and not too quickly, they'd welcome you back in time!” Biting her lip, she thought on it for a while, picking out the right words for this conversation. Once again she had to trying to weave her way through this minefield of a situation. It was hard, trying to balance both the need to try and keep Eridan from slipping into over the top pessimism, and trying to stop herself from just lying to the poor troll. “I'm trying my best to make that happen, its just, even though time has passed, I'm sure that, well, the fact that you made it when others didn't. It, it would probably bring up some not-too-great memories... Especially with Karkat and Kanaya.” She said, tacking on the last part somewhat painfully. She knew it would be said regardless, it just mattered whether she said it to Eridan, or if he would say it to himself in his head.

Silently, he just nodded at what she said. In the bubbles one of the few things he did remember was Feferi, the few times they talked, the times he apologized... He didn't have the same grace with Kanaya, nor Sollux, but Karkat? He never even thought about it, the indirect pain he must have inflicted. His knowledge of what happened after was limited, to say the least, but he knew it was a sort of tipping point. There was still he belief of everything being just fucking peachy, recoverable even. That changed when he proceeded to effectively remove three players from their efforts, and cripple a fourth. Thinking about it for long enough, he let out a chuckle, shaking his head a bit. Opening his eyes, he directed them straight to Aradia. “Look, I can do all I fuckin' wwant, and maybe evven get second chances wwith some of em, but it ain't like I can go in there and just pretend to be goody good twwo shoes, wwish it all awway. I knoww it ain't wwhat you got in mind, but I think maybe talkin' one on one wwith Kar, or maybe evven fuckin' Kan wwould be good. Time heals, sure as shit, but it's a bandage, and this situation is like an open fuckin' chest wwound. I mean shit, if I wwalked in there a month from noww, pretended evverythin' was fine because I feel bad about it, that'd do a lot fuckin' less than actually you knoww, tryin' to wwork thin's out, like a god damn adult.”

His words were harsher than Aradia was expecting, at least that's what her reaction seemed to give off. Sitting there for a moment, she frowned, almost looking defeated in a way. “Oh... Well, you're probably right, I just...” She shook her head, not even sure how to finish that sentence. “I just figured maybe, maybe a delicate touch would help is all.”

The topic was still in Eridan's mind, and his attitude, still anything but positive, still reflected on it. Frown in full effect, he shook his head as Aradia spoke, offering his counterpoint. “Your mistake there is that I ain't a good person, nevver fuckin' wwill be, it's too late Ara, I can't fuckin' be like the others. Hell I can't evven attempt to make thin's better in any meaningful sense. I havven't just burnt a few bridges, I'm like a damn bridge arsonist, a metaphorical architect's wworst nightmare. Noww that I don't evven have Fef, or the damn dancestors wwho wweren't there to judge my shit, you're all I got, and evven that feels like its just that you havven't been around me yet to see me as the huge fuckin' calamity I am.”

Suddenly, as if what he said didn't even register in Aradia's head, her look changed from one of puzzlement, to one of pure, unadulterated achievement. It was almost terrifyingly impressive, he'd only seen anything close to it from Vriska. Even those were only for the greatest of Mindfang's victories, those that put Dualscar to shame, moments that were almost beautifully perfect. As if Eridan hadn't just said a word, she stood up, and began lifting off of the ground gently with her wings. Still wet, she turned towards Can-Town, as finally the sun sank below the horizon. The stars were beautiful here on Earth, with only the light of Can-Town in the distance, and now the penthouse, it was as if they were star gazing in the middle of nowhere. With more and more seeming to twinkle into view behind her each moment, Aradia hung in the air for a few moments, speaking excitedly as she began to take off for where she came from. “Get some rest, I have just what you need tomorrow! Trust me, just give this a shot and maybe we'll get you to smile for more than five minutes at a time!”

Before he could even raise a finger in protest, she was gone. Figuring that with a tone like that, it would be wise to believe her, or at least safe to, he started to pack up for the night, heading on in and grabbing his clothes. Right now, more-so than any other moment in his strange, disjointed existence, Eridan Ampora wished he knew what the fuck was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, updates should be once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less as classes permit! http://pandorabledork.tumblr.com/ for updates, requests, Q&A, and whatever else happens to cross my mind. This still isn't my preferred chapter length, but that means next week's chapter will be longer! ...Or at least will, if I don't split it up like I did with the original chapter 2, which was about 3k words longer, but a bit weirdly paced.


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